Thursday, December 16, 2010

or at least that's what it feels like this week. Work is insanely busy, and with Christmas, normal kid activities and finals for two of our children, I simply want to crawl back into bed and pull the covers over my head.

Since I can't, I did want to take a moment to share with you the latest kit, Holiday Cheer from Studio Vivarant. Veronica has really outdone herself with this kit; it is simply gorgeous and has three coordinating paper packs.

The little girl in my layout is the granddaughter of my friend, Candace. Isn't she adorable????

Monday, December 13, 2010

Congratulations to Rebecca and the Markham Woods Varsity Volleyball team who went undefeated for the entire season!!

I also have a few pages to share with you. Two are from Celebrations from Veronica Spriggs (Studio Vivarant) and ViVa Artistry.

I only finished one other page over our very busy weekend. The page is from No Sunshine from Designs by Helly. The elements and paper pack are available for only $1 each right now. Check out this month's "Grab-a-Byte" at SBB!

Friday, December 10, 2010

It's just TWO weeks until Christmas Eve! That is definitely hard to believe and a bit scary. :)

I have two new kits to share with you today.

The first is Brightly Shining by Polly and Rufus Designs. It's a beautiful mini kit that is versatile enough to scrap non-Christmas related pictures. Sophie has included an extra pack of papers in the more traditional Christmas colors. You can see them in my layout below.

The second new kit is from the incredibly talented Netta of Creative Victorian Designs. Secrets of the Heart is a collab with River Rose designs. As usual, the kit is absolutely huge and filled with beautiful ornate elements.

Monday, December 6, 2010

My friend Holly is a finalist in the ScrapMatters Holiday Card contest. Her card is stunning and is made with Becca's kit Joyeux Noel. Please vote for Holly! No registration necessary- simply find her card and click on the dot!

I have to take a moment for a mommy brag. Nicholas brought home is report card on Friday, and the girls brought home their progress reports for their 2nd trimester, and all three of them have straight As so far for the year! I'm very proud of them.

I hope you all had a good weekend. Mine was great; we got the house decorated and cards addressed and I watched Little Women with Rebecca last night. As usual, though, it went too fast.

I have two pages to share with you.

The first is from Raspberry Road's new kit Plum Pudding. I love the nontraditional colors and "lighter" feel to this kit!

Friday, December 3, 2010

I was so happy when Netta (Creative Victorian Designs) and Helly (Designs by Helly) told me that they were collaborating on a new kit, and I even had the chance to name it! Star Cross'd is beautiful, romantic and absolutely huge; I honestly think that the alpha is one of my favorites ever.

I made two layouts, one of which is from my visit to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with lots of turkey and pumpkin pie. We had a house that was full of family and lots of fun. Of course, I had to hit the Black Friday sales starting at 3 am Friday morning. I think this was one of the best years ever; lots of people out but the lines were not that long. My valiant niece and daughter kept me company and we hit tons of stores. I also saw the new Harry Potter movie for the 2nd time over the weekend; all I can say is that if you are a Potter fan and haven't seen it- GO! I really think it's the best film yet.

I have a few new layouts to share with you this morning. The first is from By Becca's new kit: Joyeux Noel. It's a collab with Stolen Moments and incredibly beautiful.

Here's my layout, but honestly you should check out the team layouts here. They are simply AMAZING.

I also have a new layout for May (Siamese Studio) from her new kit Pink Elephant. This is seriously the CUTEST kit- perfect for babies, kids and all kinds of layout. May also was the one responsible for my new blog design. Isn't it gorgeous? If you're interested in having May do your blog, she will be offering her services soon at her store at Funky Playground Designs.

One last page to share with you today of my nephew, Gavin, and my son, Nicholas. I don't have enough boy pages and love this picture of the two of them together. The page is made with Jungle Salvage, which is a collab from Studio Tangie and her sister, De Crow Designs.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

I had a nice weekend celebrating my birthday with my son, Nicholas, who turned 9 on the day I turned 40.
We went to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal on Saturday and it was fantastic! If only there had been no other people there so that we could have enjoyed the atmosphere without all of the annoying muggles. :)

I only have one page to share with you today. It's a Family Heritage page made with Randi Oh's new Family Tree History and Heritage Scrap Kit which she was kind enough to give to me! It is truly a wonderful heritage kit; it's light and full of great elements.

Friday, November 19, 2010

TGIF- and I truly mean that this week. It has been a LONG one and I'm looking forward to the weekend! My son's birthday is tomorrow. Nicholas will be NINE! My baby! It's hard to believe. :)

I have two new kits to share with you today. The first is Magic Moments from By Becca. It is absolutely gorgeous and on sale today if you are looking for a special kit to add to your stash.

The second is called Princess Party and it is full of all things pink and pretty! I couldn't resist scrapping the "pin-up" picture of my mom from when she was a little girl. My grandmother sent it to my grandfather when he was overseas fighting in World War II. The kit is a collab between Polly and Rufus Designs and Joyce Paul.

Finally, it's Friday, so that means I send out my adoption email focusing on waiting children around the world. I just had to show you this little face today.

Lexis is a waiting child from China and is part of the Special Focus group at Families Through International Adoption. She will be four this December. You can find out more about Lexi at Families Through International Adoption

Monday, November 15, 2010

How did that happen? I hope you had a good weekend. We enjoyed having my mother and step-father here. Saturday afternoon we saw Toy Story 3. It was really good!!! If you haven't seen it I highly recommend it. In other news, Rebecca made the "Club" volleyball team. Her school team has their last game this week, but she will be starting club volleyball immediately afterwards. This is quite a time committment for her and for the rest of us. However, she absolutely adores volleyball and we hope she enjoys this.
Nicholas and Annie are excited about our upcoming trip to Universal to see the Wizarding World of Harry Potter on Saturday (Nicholas' birthday.) Thank you Kristin and Megan!

I have a few layouts to share with you.

This one is of my brother and I in - I think- 1971. Mom, please correct me if I'm wrong.

I also made this page this weekend. The kit is Sweet Disposition from Polly and Rufus Designs.

The page below was made using Dear Santa from Designs by Helly- an oldie but a goodie! Now, I don't really think that this picture was on Christmas Eve, but I thought it worked well anyway! This is my mother and uncle in the 40's. Aren't they adorable?

And finally, I made an "art journal" page using Cabaret by Bisontine. I have NO idea why the page turned out this way but, well, here it is! I remember this song being out on the radio-back in the prehistoric era, as my children would say. I was excited to receive a Gallery Standout at DigiShopTalk and Plain Digital Wrapper as well as being featured on the Art Journal Caravan Blog with this layout.

I also had a Gallery Standout at PDW with my layouts for Head in the Clouds and Winter Bouquet. The layouts were posted previously.

To see a world in a grain of sandAnd a heaven in a wild flower,Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,And eternityin an hour.

William BlakeAuguries of Innocence

If I could tell the world just one thing
It would be that we're all OK
And not to worry 'cause worry is wasteful
And useless in times like these
I won't be made useless
I won't be idle with despair
I will gather myself around my faith
For light does the darkness most fear

My hands are small I know
But they're not yours,
they are my own
But they're not yours,
they are my own

And I am never broken.

Jewell

About Me

My name is Jenn and I'm so glad that you have taken a minute to read my blog. I'm a mom of three kids, Rebecca (13), Annie (11) and Nicholas (9). Annie and Nicholas have Type 1 diabetes which plays a big role in our family life. I also work full time as an attorney. My husband of 18 years is a stay-at-home dad, CEO of our household, chef, golfer and many other things. As you can see, I'm addicted to digital scrapping and this blog will primarily highlight my designers and my work. I do plan to include some of my family life from time to time, however.

We're Prayer Warriors for Andy

Please keep this child in your prayers. He's only four and needs a forever family!

Prayers for Carrington

Children Waiting for Families

Meet just a few of the millions of children worldwide waiting for someone to love them.

These children have HIV but are otherwise growing well and developing beautifully. Please click on a picture to find out more about each child. The United States now permits children with HIV to be brought into the country, and there are many resources available to help if you are interested in any of these or other thousands of orphans worldwide with HIV.

Movies I Can't Wait For

The Hobbit

What I'm Reading

My Favorite Music

Loreena McKennitt

Reece's Rainbow

There are children all over the world in need of a family, love, and basic care. Many of these children have disabilities and are placed in mental institutions at the age of 4 or 5. In these places the children rarely live past the age of 10 and most die within the first year. Will you help to spread the word to raise funds and families for orphans with disabilities? Please visit Reece's Rainbow which advocates for orphans with down syndrome as well as other disabilities and see how your donation- however large or small- can help a child find a family. Look a little harder and you just might find the calling for one of them to be your own.

JDRF

The mission of JDRF is to find a cure for diabetes and its complications through the support of research. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that strikes children and adults suddenly, and can be fatal. Until a cure is found, people with type 1 diabetes have to test their blood sugar and give themselves insulin injections multiple times or use a pump - each day, every day of their lives. And even with that intensive care, insulin is not a cure for diabetes, nor does it prevent its eventual and devastating complications, which may include kidney failure, blindness, heart disease, stroke, and amputation.